If one were to enter the Sierras at Horseshoe Meadow/Cottonwood Pass and catch the PCT going North, you could exit out of Yosemite Valley (Happy Isles) and not need a Wilderness permit, correct?

Also, other than just not doing it the "traditional way", is there any disadvantage to hiking the JMT south to north rather than vice versa?

Thanks for any info on this!

Aaron

Aaron, I've only done it ten (it's the only thing I have to sort of brag about) times so my information might not be the best but the permit thing is kind of a, "Duh", or "Doh" . . . you need a permit for just about everything, no matter where you come in. It might be easier to get a permit for the JMT from Cottonwood, simply because it's less trafficked in the summer than getting a "go" from Whitney, although in my experience, you'll do fine just showing up and being able to wait around a day in LP, should you not get in on that days walk-in permits.

When the JMT was built and christened, doing it from south to north was supposedly the official way, but hardly anyone does it that way because . . . for one . . . It's better and easier to start in Yosemite and gradually work into the altitude thing––if you come fresh from sea level and jump onto the JMT at Whitney, your first couple days are probably going to kick your ass and should you take a longer time to acclimate, you might even find yourself getting burned and off the trail.

But the biggest reason, in my book, for doing it north to south is, that you've chosen to do this grand adventure.

If you start at whitney, you've already kinda done the best part of the trail, which again, I think, would be the BIG PASSES . . . north to south it just keeps getting better and better.

Lots of people only do it once in their life and how many of us ever walk 200+ miles . . . and generally we celebrate triumph/accomplishment by being, shall we say, on the top, the summit and so on, so . . . again, for me, I'd rather end a trip like the JMT by sitting up top of whitney and taking it all in. You finished––you're at the top and all you have is a short walk to the portal, burgers, beer, (watch out for Doug's pancake though!) and a ride into Lone Pine where you can soak your aches away in the hot tub at the Dow Villa . . .

. . . of course if you go from south to north you get to finish, if you go all the way into the valley, by walking down into the crowds of people in clean clothes and screaming teens and cars all around and where's the triumph in walking down into Yosemite Valley. oh boy. Sure you've finished the trip and all, but . . . there's no summit to sit and look back at and there's no hot tub . . . anyway, I'll shut up now.

Hey rlshattuck,

Thanks for that info. I've done Whitney now several times, as a day trip and again last August where I exited there at the end of hiking the High Sierra Trail (HST). I also did the Rae Lakes Loop last July, both trips followed a general North to South direction and shared paths with the JMT. For the JMT this time, I'm planning to skip the Whitney area altogether, hence either starting or ending at Cottonwood instead. I haven't been able to secure a reserved permit for my dates at Happy Isles, so I am considering going the opposite direction instead. Was thinking this might save me some headache trying to get a "first come-first serve" permit in Yosemite Valley? Some have told me its really difficult to get one, others have told me its easy...?

Your point about altitude is a good one though, perhaps if I acclimatize for a few nights at the beginning of Cottonwood, that might help out.

I haven't seen anything about getting permits for starting at Cottonwood on the nps site. Guess I'll just call the Rangers and see what they say.

Thanks!

Aaron

Ha! if you can blitz up whitney in a day, without issue, then . . . you ought to be good to go for a south to north . . . but my points still stand re the glory of it all versus what I consider the ho-hum of finishing in the valley . . . I've never had a problem getting a walk-up. I usually show up in the valley about 2 p.m. and out of ten times, only twice have I not gotten just what I wanted.

puffer wrote:Also, other than just not doing it the "traditional way", is there any disadvantage to hiking the JMT south to north rather than vice versa?
Aaron

I agree with rlshattuck's comments on this, but he forgot to mention one other major difference. Going south to north you avoid Mather Pass (the golden staircase) southbound and thus loose "manly" brownie points!

Good call "golden hopper" I just never think about that one––the south sides of all the major passes are (good for more debate) slogs but yeah, not as much of a bitch as getting up the northern sides . . . but then that all gets made up for when it comes time to climb up and out of places like from Muir Trail Ranch to Selden (hot day in those switch-backs, no thanks) or up from Tully Hole to Virginia . . . and let's not forget headed up to Silver Pass . . . maybe I'm the bitch, but I think these are good enough reasons not to go south2north . . . ahhh, the Golden Staircase, chock full of a full days switch-backs and miseries, but, oh, the pay-off.

goldenhopper wrote:

puffer wrote:Also, other than just not doing it the "traditional way", is there any disadvantage to hiking the JMT south to north rather than vice versa?
Aaron

I agree with rlshattuck's comments on this, but he forgot to mention one other major difference. Going south to north you avoid Mather Pass (the golden staircase) southbound and thus loose "manly" brownie points!

The Golden Staircase isn't exactly a peach to go down either. Especially with a heavy pack.

JasonH wrote:

goldenhopper wrote:
I agree with rlshattuck's comments on this, but he forgot to mention one other major difference. Going south to north you avoid Mather Pass (the golden staircase) southbound and thus loose "manly" brownie points!

The Golden Staircase isn't exactly a peach to go down either. Especially with a heavy pack.

I almost never wear a heavy pack, but you're right it is tough on the knees. The best part is when you've been descending the switchbacks below Palisade Lake for a few hours and a few sorry, tattered souls ask how close they are and you tell them 15 minutes.

I did have a "Rick Kent" day on this very section. We went from upper basin (the lake at the north east foot of Sill) to our car at Parchers. That's about 29/30 miles in just under 12 hours. Call me a wussy, but that's about all I can handle with a 30ish pound pack and two major passes. The young bastards I did it with finished it off with 100 pushups each at the car.

In my opinion, debating difficulty of direction is trivial compared to the one overshadowing benefit of South to North. Yosemite Valley = showers. I mean sure Whitney portal has burgers... but free hot showers in Curry Village? I mean, no brainer.

yeah, free (don't think so?) hot showers in curry village with a hundred other people. don't think so. read some reviews . . . Heading down to the Portal for a few beers and a burger and then making your way to lone pine for a clean, quiet, room with a pool and hot tub. did I say, hot tub, again.

My wife and I hiked the JMT last summer and we got a permit for starting at Happy Isles, but since the desirable Little Yosemite or Little Yosemite "pass-thru" permits were gone, we got a permit for camping the first night in the Illilouette Valley. This is about 3 miles off the JMT, at the Panorama trail junction. After taking the Panorama trail for about a mile above Nevada Falls, you head south on other trails (can't remember their names). It is the trail that gets closest to Mount Starr King. We camped at about 6900 feet directly west of Mount Starr King. It was a nice first night out, as we had the area completely to ourselves, and put us in good position to hike Half Dome the next day. Or of course you could skip Half Dome and make it easily to Sunrise or even to Cathedral Lakes the next day.

Some other options: Get a permit for starting at Glacier Point. Get a permit to start in Tuolumne Meadows, and day hike (long day, but you can go light) from Happy Isles to Tuolumne.

My point is that you can be a little creative with your first night out, and still hike north to south. Another advantage of the N-S direction is that you see fewer people, since most people are heading in your same direction. (And believe me, there are a LOT of people on this trail.) I have to agree with the posts above that it was a fantastic feeling to "finish" the trail on top of Mt. Whitney. I put "finish" in quotes because of course you have to hike ten more miles down to Whitney Portal, but the JMT really does end/begin on Whitney's summit. Finally, heading N-S the resupply situation is easy, so your first week out you don't have to carry huge loads.

To answer your original question, yes, your permit for starting at Horseshoe Meadows would be valid for the whole trip.

Enjoy!
Mark